


Set Up

by PrinceCat



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-14
Updated: 2017-03-14
Packaged: 2018-10-05 01:24:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10294241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrinceCat/pseuds/PrinceCat
Summary: Keiji has an odd sort of family reunion with Suga, Oikawa, and Kenma where they break into somebody's house.





	1. The Past

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kaiyou](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaiyou/gifts).



The two people in Keiji's life know nothing about his past. Those two people being his editor and the man who works at the front desk of his condominium complex. He used to know three people before he started getting his groceries delivered to avoid that one super market cashier. Most days Keiji himself would like to know nothing about his past. To forget.

And most days he can. There are habits learned that he can never be rid of, but most days he can lose himself in writing, or watching television, or reading, not leaving his flat. It's an unusually cold September evening when Keiji gets an email that brings everything back.

Keiji's childhood was, even at the surface level, unusual. He didn't have a happy home with a mother and father, he didn't go to school and play with other kids on his block. Being in a group home wasn't, and isn't, the height of oddness, but nevertheless Keiji and the other boys there felt a distinct difference between themselves and other children they would encounter. There are three faces Keiji remembers from his childhood and teen years. Other boys in the home, the ones that never left.

The eldest out of them was Suga. Being one of the older boys in the home made him into a caregiver, far before he should have had such responsibility. His kindness and self-sacrificing nature was deceptive, and hid a cleverness and ruthless ambition from those who did not know him well. Even as a teenager, he remained their level-headed leader.

After Suga, there was Oikawa. Scrappy and unstable, Oikawa was always a wild-card, desperate to prove himself. As a child, his knobbly knees were always scraped, and as a teenager what might have been a handsome face was always marred with a black eye or split lip. His sharp mind and quick tongue landed him in many fights, even Suga wasn't a strong enough influence on Oikawa to stabilize him.

Kenma was the last, a small boy, tall enough as a teen but always a shrinking violet. Despite Keiji being the youngest in age, Kenma was the true baby of the group. A silent watcher, Kenma was just as sharp as Suga and Oikawa, but avoided people with the same vigour as Oikawa sought people out. Though he was often nervous, and scared, Kenma was observant, and a steady constant.

Perhaps the four of them would have lived a relatively normal life, unwanted children in a grey home, if it weren't for Oikawa's older sister. As a child, it was hard to reconcile her sharp beauty with Oikawa's bug eyes and gangly limbs, but they were all pretty creepy kids really. Maybe if he lost his habit of getting punched in the face since Keiji last saw him, he would grow into an attractive young man. Keiji pettily hopes not.

Oikawa's sister was out of the system. An adult. Looking back, Keiji hesitates to call her that. She didn't know what she was doing half the time. But as a child he looked up to her. They all did. She would break Oikawa out now and then, always returning him in the morning, until Kenma caught on. Then she began taking all four of them. She wasn't allowed to visit Oikawa, really. A bad influence. They weren't wrong.

It was exciting, even Keiji, who thinks himself very logical and reasonable, was taken in by the thrill of breaking the rules. Keiji can't remember how it happened, but Suga's older brother started coming too. He was a few years older than Oikawa's sister. It was a whole family outing.

That was when they started stealing. It started out small. A corner store. Oikawa's sister would tart up Kenma or Suga, and send them in as a distraction. It was thrilling. Sitting in the back of Suga's brother's truck and eating the spoils of their labour. It felt gratifying, in a way that the four of them as children didn't understand yet. To take something from the man. From society, from the people who had stuffed them away in a grey little home for children left in dumpsters and abandoned in parks.

They got better, professional. They started breaking into homes, expensive ones. There was less instant gratification, only shiny things being pocketed by Oikawa's sister and Suga's brother, but the thrill, the adrenaline was still there. It made Keiji feel special. When the headmistress of the home reprimanded Kenma for being stupid, or Keiji for being lazy, they would know they were worth more than her opinion of them. They were professionals. They were valuable.

Suga could talk his way out of anything, and with Oikawa, became better at strategy even than their older siblings. Kenma could climb anything, fit into small places, and cry himself out of anything. He may not have liked talking to strangers, but was excellent at crying on cue. This went on for years, with the four of them trusting the older siblings to handle the disposal of their spoils.

It all blew up when Keiji was fifteen. They had taken Suga's brother's truck out into the suburbs. He had been casing the joint for a week. Three of them went in, Suga's brother, Kenma, and Keiji. The Oikawa siblings kept watch, and Suga himself, having already learned how to drive by then, was waiting in the truck. Keiji remembers the night with startling clarity, considering how blurry the rest of his memories are. He can't even remember Oikawa's sister's given name. But he remembers this night.

Kenma and Keiji were in some sort of study, breaking into the little safe stashed away under the desk. Oikawa's sister had taught Kenma how to do it, and Keiji was still getting the hang of it himself. When a figure appeared in the doorway, Keiji assumed it was Suga's brother. It was stupid, really. He was supposed to be the one watching Kenma's back, but he had been so busy watching Kenma work on the safe he hadn't been _alert_. They'd had some close calls, but nothing dangerous enough for it to not seem like just a game to them. They were kids.

It wasn't Suga's brother. It was the homeowner. He told them, calmly, in a low voice, that he's called the police. Told them to stay where they are. It had been difficult to tell in the dark, but they could both see the man was holding a weapon, a baseball bat. The moment of silence as they stood frozen seemed to stretch on for hours. It was broken by a sickening crunch, and the man fell to the ground, revealing Suga's brother standing behind him. He had struck the homeowner with another baseball bat, a metal one. In his shock, Keiji can remember wondering who on earth has more than one baseball bat lying around their home. Suga's brother motioned urgently, angrily, for them to come, and they hurried out into the hall, over the prone body of the homeowner. Keiji had followed Suga's brother until they both stopped and turned to see Kenma not following, but crouched over the body, not touching him, just looking at it.

"Kozume," Suga's brother had hissed.

Kenma had looked up at them then, his face carefully neutral. "He's dead."

Suga's brother had rushed over to Kenma and wrenched him up to his feet by his arm, pulling him along as they left the house in a hurry. When he tossed the bat down in the hall, Keiji picked it up. Suga's brother wasn't thinking. He had always been a little sloppy. Somewhere between coming in and smashing the homeowner's skull in, Suga's brother had taken off his gloves. Keiji could only hope his finger prints were only on the bat, not littered about the place. It had given him a thrill, holding the bat. The blood was still on the end. This bat had just taken someone's life. Keiji can still remember the weight of it in his palm, as if it buzzed with electricity.

Suga's brother and Oikawa's sister spoke in hushed tones in the front yard until Kenma, still in Suga's brother's grip, told them that the man had called the police. They yelled at Kenma for not telling them sooner, and it was the first time Keiji remembers seeing them scared. Oikawa told them not to shout at Kenma and asks what's going on. They didn't answer, only herded the three of them back to the truck, were Suga was waiting impatiently.

Oikawa's sister kept running her hand through her hair nervously, and Suga's brother's hands were shaking as he lit a cigarette. Oikawa kept demanding to know what happened, and Keiji still had the bat on his lap, now with a plastic bag wrapped around the bloody end.

Even though it wasn't that long ago now, the rest of the night is like a dream.

Keiji, Kenma, and Suga were dumped back at the home. Oikawa was taken with his sister and Suga's brother, and they never came back. Suga and Keiji still broke out themselves now and again, they were old enough and confident enough. Suga had no way of contacting his brother, no way of finding out anything about him. Whether he had been arrested for murder, which Keiji suspected was probably the case. Another few years and they were on the street, for better or for worse, they weren't anyone's responsibility anymore. Suga left first, being the oldest. Oikawa was already gone. Kenma ran away early. Keiji was the last one.

And now, an unsuspecting email in his inbox brings everything back.

It's from an "Oikawa Hitomi", who Keiji can only assume is Oikawa's older sister. He wonders how on earth she could have gotten his email.

_One Last Job_ , the subject line reads, and Keiji feels a tense knot form in his stomach.

_Akaashi Keiji,_

_I hope this email finds you in health. Now let's cut the chatter. I need your help with a job. I've contacted the other two and my brother, and ask you all to meet at this spot tomorrow at 11am (map attached) and do this for me. I know we haven’t seen each other since you all were teenagers, and now you're in your twenties, and probably out-of-practice. But I need your help. I need people I can trust on this job. My brother will explain it to you further if you choose to meet with the others._

_Oikawa Hitomi_

The meeting point is in a park downtown, a little red x marks the specific spot.

Keiji sits at his computer, hunched over, staring at the x, the rest of his apartment fading away in his peripheral vision. He can't properly analyze how he's feeling about this. There's apprehension, that's for sure. They aren't kids anymore. There are stakes, they have responsibilities, or at least Keiji does. For all he knows the others are still doing this kind of thing.

He decides not to make a decision, but the next day at 9am, Keiji finds himself making his way out the door without having made any sort of clear choice. Something is drawing him out to see them.


	2. The Meeting

Keiji arrives first at the meeting point. It's a public park, inconspicuous in its conspicuousness. Out of habit, Keiji makes mental note of his surroundings. There is an old man walking a small yappy dog. The man meanders along while the dog strains ahead on its leash. On a couple of park benches a group of young fashionable people, probably local university students, eat crepes and laugh together. Four girls and one boy. Two younger boys, perhaps middle school age, chase each other across the grass. Keiji keeps his eyes trained on the path from the street. Chances are the others will come from there, instead of walking all the way through the park.

Sugawara is next to arrive. Like Keiji thought, he comes directly from the street.

"Akaashi-san," Suga greets Keiji warmly but formally, dipping his head a little. Keiji returns the gesture. Suga looks different, but recognizable. His skin is the same light brown, his hair still sugary pale. He's fattened up a bit, which only serves to add to his homely appearance, cheeks plumping out in a little smile. The light blue windbreaker he's bundled up in clashes terribly with the ugly yellow scarf wrapped around his neck. "It's so good to see you again. Excited?"

"Not really," Keiji replies bluntly. Despite his brusqueness, Keiji does feel an old warmth at seeing Suga again. He hadn't let himself think about missing them. There were good times too.

Perhaps this won't be such a trial after all. Of course Oikawa hasn't shown his face yet.

Suga recognizes Kenma first, and calls out, waving enthusiastically. "Kenma!"

"Kenma," Keiji greets the unfamiliar figure of his old friend when he stops in front of them.

Kenma looks different. His hair is dyed blond, tied up in a little loop of a bun. It must be longer than it was when they were children, when it hung to his chin to frame his face creepily. Kenma had always needed to have his hair hang that way, like blinders on a horse, to stop himself from getting too anxious. But now it's pulled back. Perhaps more had changed in Kenma than just his appearance. He has the same piercing golden eyes, although now framed behind large round spectacles, Keiji can't tell if Kenma has lost the way he used to eerily stare at people. He still has terrible dark circles under his eyes, and looks exhausted.

"Suga, Keiji," Kenma bobs a bow, hands stuffed deep in his puffy jacket. The apples of his cheeks are rosy from the cold. It's cute.

Ever the one to smooth over awkward pauses, Suga speaks next. "How have you been, Kenma?"

"Fine."

Ever the one to say as little as possible, Kenma leaves it at that.

They stand around for another three minutes before Suga suggests they sit down on the edge of the fountain instead of standing around foolishly.

"Maybe Oikawa won't show up at all," Suga muses after they've sat for another three minutes, their thighs going numb on the cold stone.

Kenma says nothing, only glances over at the group of young people as the girls let out an especially loud round of giggles. He pulls his phone out of his jacket pocket and types on it briefly before stashing it away again and looking back over at the group.

"I wouldn't blame him," Keiji finally grumbles. "Some of us have made lives for ourselves."

"Ah, I've read your books, Akaashi-san," Suga says suddenly, touching Keiji's arm briefly. "Pretty gruesome stuff, huh?"

"Thank you."

Ten minutes after the hour, the group of fashionable young people begins to stand up and stretch, and Keiji watches them lazily as they make their way out of the park. The young man parts ways with them and buys another crepe from the stand at the edge of the park before walking back towards the fountain Keiji and the others are sitting on. Keiji only has a chance to think of how strikingly handsome the young man is before he greets them cockily.

"Were you three just going to sit in silence on this cold fountain edge forever if I hadn't shown up?"

"Oikawa?!" Suga stands up from where he's sitting in shock, and Keiji knows he must look pretty shocked himself.

He regrets thinking of him as 'strikingly handsome' now that he knows it's Oikawa. Yet, it's undeniable. The gangly little brat who always had scuffed up knees and wide brown eyes is practically unrecognizable. Keiji curses himself for not paying closer attention to his surroundings. This was probably some stupid mind game or test. Oikawa's hair and eyes are the same brown colour, but he's now fashionable and charming. His hair looks soft and bouncy and his eyes aren't wide and alert, but narrowed with a kind of resting smugness, like he already knows everything there is to possibly know.

"The one and only," Oikawa sing-songs. "Here Kenma-chan," he offers the crepe to Kenma, "I got this for you. It's strawberry and chocolate!"

Kenma pulls a sour face at Oikawa but accepts the crepe and begins to nibble at it.

"Should we head somewhere warmer to discuss things further?" Oikawa looks between Suga and Keiji expectantly.

"Were you over there the whole time while we froze our asses off?" Keiji sends a tired glare Oikawa's way as he stands up stiffly.

Oikawa shrugs flippantly. "Maybe~"

The four of them make their way to a café and Keiji is already exhausted. He hasn't had to deal with this many people in a long time. Especially people as friendly as Suga and Oikawa. It makes Keiji vaguely uncomfortable that Suga has read his books. As close as he once was with the other three, he thought he had left that life behind. They were his closest friends, his family. Being around them once brought him comfort and safety, no matter how he acted unaffected by them. Nothing in his life now brings him the same feeling, or anything close to it. One of the reasons Keiji even came here to meet them was because, somewhere buried deep, he missed them, missed that feeling of belonging. He would never admit that though, not even to himself.

"Wasn't it careless of you to bring your friends along?" Keiji asks Oikawa accusatorily as they settle down at a corner table.

"Oh, I don't know those people," Oikawa replies, waving it off.

"You know I always said you'd make a great grifter," Suga says.

Keiji catches Oikawa's eyeroll. "Well maybe some of us prefer a good honest career where we can cultivate friends and connections that aren't criminals who will stab us in the back!"

"Hey now, that was a rumour! Semi didn't literally _stab_ me. The fact that you even heard that rumour shows you've still got those criminal connections Oikawa!"

"So are we going to talk shop or what? Are you still in Akaashi?" Oikawa turns to Keiji.

"In?"

Suga smiles indulgently. "In the business," he says to Keiji. "Akaashi-san's an author now Oikawa."

"Why did you come then?" Oikawa asks Keiji, his eyes calculating. It feels like he already knows the answer, even though that's impossible. Keiji doesn't even really know for sure himself.

Keiji holds Oikawa's stare for a moment before answering. "Why did you?"

"Why not?" Oikawa shrugs flippantly again. "It's my sister after all. Plus I was kinda curious about you lot. Y'know, how you all turned out. What do you do Suga? I know you're still in."

"I work at an art gallery. What about you two?"

"I'm an animator," Kenma volunteers.

Oikawa sips his coffee, as if prolonging suspense. "I play volleyball. Professionally."

"This is all fascinating," Keiji interjects, "but can we cut the small talk? Did we all come here to chat or to do this thing for Oikawa's sister?"

Keiji isn't sure why he's so resistant to this. Some small part of him is overjoyed to see his old friends, to see they survived into adulthood despite the odds stacked against them. But he's also cautious, and alert. He doesn't want to get back into this life. Doesn't like what it does to him. If reconnecting with these three means getting back "in", he doesn't want to risk it. He's perfectly fine having two people, kept at a distance, in his life. Not _happy_ maybe, but fine. Is anyone really _happy_ anyways?

Rolling his eyes, Oikawa pulls a folder from his shoulder bag. "Here's the place. And before you ask, I know just as much as you do about what's going on with my sister. I only got this yesterday, and, if you can imagine, she had the gall to suggest I wait until now to open it!"

The folder's seal had clearly been broken, and Suga smiles knowingly. Kenma reaches forward and flips open the folder. The mark is a standard house, tightly packed in beside its neighbours, which makes Keiji wonder what Oikawa's sister could be interested in. From the outside it doesn't look like anything special, and the close quarters make it an unnecessary risk.

"This is it?" Suga asks. They're all probably thinking the same thing. "What could she want here?"

Oikawa shrugs. "All she's said is that it's something personal, and highly important. In, hit the safe, out."

Kenma is sitting scrutinizing the pictures and information suspiciously, but says nothing.

"So are we gonna do this?" Oikawa asks, face serious for the first time since he met up with them.

"I owe her," Suga says. "She's the reason my brother isn't in prison right now, and the reason I'm not on the streets, because she gave me the training to provide for myself."

Kenma looks at Oikawa and answers. "If you are."

They all look at Keiji.

"Okay," he says, even though the tense knot in his stomach has worked its way up to his throat. "But nothing further. I like my life the way it is."

Not necessarily true, but at the level of information Keiji is willing to reveal.

"Okay," Oikawa repeats. "Let's do this then."


	3. The Shortest Heist in History

Over lunchtime they plan, Suga, still the one with the most expertise, makes most of the calls. The house isn't accessible by car, so they have to park elsewhere and proceed on foot.

That alone makes Keiji nervous. Kenma and Oikawa are walking together, and Keiji and Suga are walking alone, a little ways back and a little ways ahead. If he wanted to, Keiji could slip off without being stopped right away. The thrill he knew as a child is back, but it feels much different. It feels like when he's got a deadline and he's been writing for days on end with no sleep and too much coffee. The adrenaline that used to drive him feels bad, makes him shaky and nervous and nauseous.

He doesn't slip away.

They go in the front door. There aren't many other choices, going down the side would look way too suspicious to the neighbours. They're dressed normally, not in all black like cat burglars or something, so as not to raise suspicions.

"I don't like not knowing who lives here," Kenma mutters as he works the door open.

Suga doesn’t notice, busy pretending to check his phone and keeping a look-out. Oikawa touches the back of Kenma's head briefly, as if to comfort him, or sympathize. Keiji says nothing to the odd gesture or Kenma's statement.

 It's a nice home, once they're in, a bit dim because of all the dark hardwood and lack of windows, but it's a home. There are clothes slung over the banister to the upper floor and magazine scattered across a chair in the living room.

"Gloves on," Suga says in a low voice.

Kenma, already wearing his, steps onto the stairs, examining the wall. He touches it briefly and then looks around to the other walls. Oikawa is watching him too, and finally follows him upstairs. Before they go out of sight, Keiji sees Oikawa's mouth open in a question, his hand reaching out to Kenma to stabilize them on the stairs.

With Suga, Keiji scouts out the lower floor. It's clear, and Keiji joins the others upstairs. Suga keeps a look-out downstairs. He had remarked once they had cleared the floor that all four of them being in there was overkill. That it could get messy. He pointed out good exit strategies to Keiji as if Keiji hadn't automatically sought them out.

"Clear?" he asks Oikawa and Kenma when he gets upstairs.

Oikawa nods. "Everything but these two rooms, which are locked. Bedroom probably, and study."

"Where's the safe then?"

"Here," Kenma answers, gesturing to a storage closet. "I'll start working on it."

"Who keeps their safe in a broom cupboard?" Keiji says. He turns to see Oikawa messing with one of the locked doors. "Oikawa, what are you doing?"

"Uh, getting into this room, what does it look like?"

The door clicks open and Oikawa goes in, Keiji on his heels. It's the study. Oikawa immediately goes over to the desk to peer at it suspiciously.

"This is locked too," he says.

Keiji shakes his head incredulously. "So?"

Remembering he's supposed to be watching Kenma's back, having a momentary chill remembering the last time he _didn't_ , Keiji leans out into the hall. Kenma's fine. No homeowners in sight. No baseball bats either.

"Come out! Nee-san!" Oikawa yells all of the sudden.

Keiji whirls around to look at Oikawa in horror. "Oikawa? Shut up, what are you doing?"

"This is my sister's house," Oikawa says slowly. The desk drawer is open now. His face is irritated and unamused, and quells any suspicions Keiji had about Oikawa being in on some sort of mind game with his sister.

"How do you know?" Kenma appears beside Keiji.

Oikawa turns the paper in his hand to face show them. It's a polaroid picture of the siblings when they were younger. "I recognized the desk so I jimmied the lock, this is all her stuff. I'm calling her."

Frowning, Keiji comes over to look at the desk's contents. "You brought your phone in? Amateur."

"Shut up Akaashi," Oikawa says, drawing out Keiji's name to a playful whine. "We can't all be professional hermits like you, I have other things to think about."

They wait in silence as Oikawa's phone dials.

"Nee-san. Why are we in your house? I'm putting you on speaker phone so you can explain yourself to Kenma and Akaashi too."

" _Ugh, Tooru_ ," Oikawa's sister's voice crackles over the line. " _I told you not to meddle in the study. What if that was, like, my ex-husband's house and I wanted you to steal back my stuff that he wasn't giving me back?_ "

"The empty picture hooks in the hall made us think something fishy was going on," Oikawa says into the phone. "Also, don't lie to me, you're happily married."

"You're _happily married_ ," Oikawa's sister replies petulantly.

"Where are you?" Kenma interrupts, leaning closer to Oikawa to talk into his phone. "Can we leave?"

Oikawa's sister lets out an exaggerated sigh. " _Oh fine. Meet back at the fountain? I'll explain there._ "

"Are the neighbours going to call the police if we just leave?"

"... _No. I told them you'd be visiting. Now stop going through my things or I_ will _call the police!_ "

Oikawa's sister hangs up with a click, and the room is left in silence.

"Did you really not know about this?" Keiji asks.

"No!" Oikawa insists. "What the hell is she playing at?"

Suga appears in the doorway. "What's going on? You're making so much noise!"

"We're leaving," Kenma answers, making his way towards the hall. "This is some scheme of Hitomi's. This is her house."

" _What_? What's in the safe then?"

"Nothing. It's empty," Kenma says before slipping by Suga into the hall. "I'm tired. I want a crepe."

Oikawa's mildly irritated frown gives way to a fond smile and he follows Kenma.

As Keiji walks back to the car with the others, he realizes this is the first time he's been in someone's home in a vaguely legal way. What an odd thing, he thinks, to have never been invited into someone's space. He's been in plenty of homes, but never allowed to be there. As they walk down the steps between housefronts, he doesn't feel the urge to surreptitiously turn his face away from curious neighbours.

He's meant to be there.


	4. The Reveal

They have all installed themselves on park benches with warm crepes in hand by the time Oikawa Hitomi shows up. It's cold, and Kenma has huddled into Oikawa's side. Suga jokingly offered an arm to Keiji, who shot him a foul look in response. It feels good. Without the pressure of the heist, being around his old friends warms Keiji. More than anything he wants to accept the arm and huddle with the others, but he has a certain aloof reputation to uphold.

Oikawa's sister comes from within the park.

"Hiya you lot! I suppose you're all pretty put out with me, huh?"

She looks the same as Keiji remembers, although with a few markers of age. Looking between the Oikawa siblings now, it's easy to tell they're related.

"Yeah, actually, we are," Oikawa replies to his sister. "What exactly was the point of this charade?"

"Well. You see I'm an old woman now, and I have some regrets. I know better now."

"Nee-san you're only in your thirties."

"Shut up Tooru. The point is. I wanted to repay you, sort of. I know what we did when we were younger wasn't right. I mean, I still do it, but I mean specifically that you guys were just kids. To an actual adult, even I was just a kid, but I still should have known better. Things shouldn't've ended the way they did."

"So," Suga says after a pause, "you thought you would pay us back by getting us to break into your house?"

" _No_ , I wanted to reunite you! You four were thick as thieves when you were younger! Well, I mean, you were, actual thieves, but you know what I mean! I wanted to help you reconnect. I mean look at this," she gestures to Kenma huddled up against Oikawa, smiling smugly, "that was all me. You're welcome."

Oikawa opens his mouth but seems to second-guess himself, glancing down at Kenma.

"Oh, tell her," Kenma says.

"Nee-san, we were already dating."

"You're _together_?" Keiji blurts out, while Suga remains oddly silent, mouth hanging open slightly.

Kenma simply closes his eyes and raises his eyebrows, as if to say 'why yes of course' and squishes further into Oikawa's side.

Sure, Oikawa had always fawned and doted on Kenma when they were growing up, but Keiji had thought of it more as a long-running joke. He should have seen the signs.

"Yes, oh my god, you have no idea how annoying this charade has been," Oikawa proclaims dramatically. "Kenma gave me such a stink eye when I got him that crepe when we first met up, but you two thought I was just being weird."

"You _were_ being weird, lurking around with random women while we sat waiting for you!" Suga says, although he sounds more amused than angry. "Wait. Kenma, you knew it was him over there? You must've!"

"We had agreed to pretend we hadn't reconnected."

"Well," Oikawa's sister interjects, "then the rest of you! I can't believe you didn't tell me about this Tooru, but we'll talk about that later."

"I-" Keiji speaks without meaning to, and cuts himself off.

Kenma looks at him with those piercing golden eyes. "What?"

"I'm glad this happened. I would have much preferred it without this whole set-up, but I do enjoy spending time with you three. Especially when we aren't doing anything illegal."

"Aw, Akaashi!" Oikawa coos his name while Suga laughs good-naturedly. Keiji rolls his eyes spectacularly at their fussing, but doesn't take back what he said.

Oikawa slings an arm over Kenma to draw him closer, a soft affection in his eyes, and Keiji smiles. They look good together.

Hitomi gets herself a crepe and sits down. They stay in the park and talk for longer than they should in such cold weather. When they part ways, both Oikawas make sure they all exchange phone numbers.

"Keiji." Kenma holds on to Keiji's arm and looks up at him earnestly. Keiji smiles a smile reserved only for Kenma. "You should visit me."

"I'll call you then?"

"What?" Oikawa calls from where he's smearing chocolate sauce from his crepe on Suga's cheek. "Oh no, Kenma never answers phone calls. Just text him!"

"I'll text you," Keiji amends, still smiling. "Now, I need to get home and rest. My face is exhausted it's not used to smiling you know."

Suga and Oikawa laugh, crowding around them, and Kenma cracks a smile himself. Perhaps, Keiji thinks, and only perhaps, having more than two people in his life won't be so bad after all.


	5. Epilogue: Yet Another Person Makes Their Way Into Keiji's Life

When Keiji finally makes the time to visit the address Kenma gave him, a person who is definitely _not_ Kenma opens the door. Looking just where he expected Kenma's face to appear, Keiji gets a good eyeful of bare clavicle and has to look away when he realized this person's entire chest is, in fact, shirtless. He looks back, pointedly at the stranger's face, and is quickly distracted by the horrible mess of black hair.

"Uh, can I help you?"

"I'm looking for Kozume Kenma?" Keiji finally meets the stranger's eyes, dark in deep eye sockets.

The handsome stranger looks at Keiji then with some form of recognition. "Oh! I see. Uh, come on in then."

They stand for a moment in silence after the door is closed, and even though he would _love_ to take a look around Kenma's apartment, Keiji can't seem to tear his eyes away from the stranger's left shoulder. There's nothing special in particular about the left shoulder, just that any further towards the centre of his bare chest would be blatant ogling, and Keiji wouldn't want to be obvious.

"I should...put a shirt on, huh?"

Keiji's eyes snap up to the man's face. "If you must. Yes, that would be ideal."

"Uh, have a seat, I'll be right back."

As soon as the stranger is out of the room, Keiji whips his phone out, ready to call Kenma and demand where he is and who this man is. He pauses. Kenma never answers phone calls. Keiji calls Oikawa instead.

"Oikawa, thank goodness, there's some tall dark and mysterious man in Kenma's apartment. With no shirt on."

Instead of any reaction Keiji was expecting, Oikawa simply laughs, long enough for Keiji to become annoyed at it.

"I hardly think it's very funny! Aren't you worried Kenma is cheating on you or something?"

" _...tall dark and mysterious_..." Oikawa mumbles to himself, but it makes it across the line. " _Not handsome? Tragic._ "

"Oikawa??"

" _Sorry, sorry,_ " Oikawa says, laughing a little. " _Relax Akaashi, Kenma isn't having some sort of illicit affair behind my back. That's probably just Kuroo. Dumb hair, right?_ "

"Oh, well, yes."

" _If you saw him shirtless, he should also be pretty muscular, he plays volleyball with me. Although his thighs are probably his selling point-_ "

"Oikawa."

" _Okay, well, have fun bye!!_ "

"Have fun??" Keiji asks incredulously, but it's too late. Oikawa has hung up.

A few moments later, Kuroo emerges, his hair still a mess, but differently a mess. It seems a more artfully curated mess now, as opposed to just bedhead. He also has a shirt on, which is. Good. Keiji narrowly avoids eyeing up Kuroo's thighs.

"Hey," Kuroo greets Keiji informally, which makes Keiji blink. "I'm afraid Kenma isn't in right now. You're um, Akaashi Keiji, right? Heard about you from Oikawa and Kenma. I'm Kuroo."

"Kuroo-san. I have not heard them speak about you. Except, just now. On the phone. When I called Oikawa to ask him about the strange man in Kenma's apartment."

Kuroo laughs at this, even though it really isn't that funny, and Keiji is charmed by his lopsided grin. He sits down beside Keiji, still smiling that charming smile. "You _are_ cute."

Blinking heavily again, Keiji feels that this, more than anything else this week, is an obvious set-up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my chapter lengths may be inconsistent but at least they got consistently shorter? that's gotta count for something right
> 
> thank you for reading!


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